Chapter 12

Qu Man turned to Qi Wu. Although she tried to be professional, she still could not resist saying, “Thank goodness you were here.”

Qu Man absolutely did not want it to be known that the head of Talent Relations was paying extra attention to some young girl.

However, she really wanted to know the gossip!

She especially wanted to know what was going on with Jin Si. Even if all she got was gossip, it would be a win for her!

Qi Wu blinked at Qu Man and asked, “Excuse me, can we eat now?”

She then looked down at her flat belly.

“There’s still another hour before the cafeteria opens.”

Qu Man was filled with admiration for Qi Wu. The only thing Qi Wu thought about was food, not the upcoming competition.

“There’s a tiny kitchen in the villa with some food stocked. If you know how to cook, you can make a meal for yourself.”

“I don’t know how to cook…”

Qi Wu’s shoulders slumped this time as well.

Qu Man could not help but blurt out, “Who cooks at home?”

“Jin…” Qi Wu had just started answering the question when Qu Man started coughing hard like she had asthma.

The crew members and Tong Luo, who were all still in the room, stared at her in confusion.

Qu Man’s face was red from how hard she was coughing, but her coughing still did not feel as intense as the shock she felt upon hearing what Qi Wu said.

A man named Jin?

It was Jin Si!

Qi Wu was actually living with Jin Si, and he cooked!

While Qu Man looked cold and aloof on the outside, she was actually floating with glee on the inside over the gossip she had just heard.

If they were not filming, she would have instantly started interrogating Qi Wu for more information.

“In that case, you’ll have to wait. You two, let’s go check the rest of the quarters.”

When Qu Man led the two crew members out of the room, Qi Wu let out a heavy sigh and prepared herself to go digging for her jar of lemon drops.

Just then, Tong Luo meekly called out from behind her, “I know how to cook. If you don’t mind…”

Qi Wu immediately snapped her head up to look at Tong Luo with gleaming eyes. “Really?”

Tong Luo’s words drifted into the void.

As she stared at the pair of bright eyes staring at her with starry sparkles in them, she could not bring herself to say no.

“Yes.”

Thus, Tong Luo headed down to the kitchen with Qi Wu following closely behind.

*

Although Qu Man looked calm and composed, her feet were already racing away toward the control room.

At the moment, the rest of the production staff had left to work on their tasks, leaving just enough people needed to stay in the control room to monitor everyone else.

Qu Man strode into Song Qi’s office to find the man unhappily grumbling into the phone, “What are you saying? What do you think I would do to a young woman?”

“Enough! It has not even been a whole day since you dropped her off, yet you’re here asking about her situation. Who is she? Your daughter?”

Qu Man silently stood to the side. From the way Song Qi was speaking, she could guess who the other man on the phone was.

The question was whether Chang Xun called because he wanted to or because Jin Si asked him to.

Qu Man’s imagination could not envision what it would look like for a weirdo like Jin Si to get together with Qi Wu. Either way, it would be a very shocking sight to behold.

Song Qi eventually hung up on the phone as he loudly filled the air with curses.

He glanced at Qu Man and coldly scoffed. “Just what on earth is wrong with Chang Xu? Why is an unambitious girl that important to him?”

Song Qi’s first impression of Qi Wu was the worst it could be.

He was even starting to have doubts about Chang Xun.

“What if this is all just a scheme? Did he collude with the sponsors to shove the girl into my show?”

Qu Man did not respond to the question.

She was smart enough not to do that.

Even though Chaoqi Group, Jin Si’s old agency, was one of the show’s three biggest sponsors.

Once Song Qi was done cursing out Chang Xun, he began to question her about the incident that had just happened.

“Was Tong Luo hurt?”

Qu Man shook her head. “Qi Wu caught the statue just in time. Tong Luo is only suffering from mild shock.”

“Oh?”

Surprise flashed in Song Qi’s eyes as he asked in a skeptical tone, “Are you saying that frail, weak young woman caught the statue?”

Qu Man helplessly nodded. “She said it was because she was strong. As the entire incident is a mistake on our end, I’ll have them delete that clip later on in editing.”

Song Qi did not reply to her and instead pulled up the surveillance footage of the incident.

His gaze never once left the computer screen as he thoughtfully observed what happened. Then, he shook his head. “No.”

He pointed to the video on the computer screen and confidently declared, “We’ll have to air this segment. Tell the editors to put it in the teaser trailer.”

Qu Man was stunned. “Why?”

Song Qi had been dissatisfied with Qi Wu’s performance before. He disliked her for her lack of ambition. Why would he be willing to give her room in the show’s trailer?

“You and I both know what Tong Luo’s situation is right now. There will be flames of competition between two roommates. They’ll also both draw a lot of attention from the audience. This scene is great on all fronts.”

Song Qi’s voice was calm and cold as he analyzed the situation.

Qu Man understood what he was thinking after hearing that.

“I’ll go discuss it with Hu Mofei right away.”

***

Meanwhile, back in the villa.

Qi Wu’s burning stare remained trained on Tong Luo from the moment she placed a bowl of noodles and vegetables on the table.

Unsettled by the way Qi Wu was staring at her, Tong Luo softly cleared her throat and said, “It’s just a snack to tide you over.”

“Thank you for cooking for me.”

Qi Wu quietly sat in her chair and spoke in such a soft and sweet voice that no one could think ill or harshly of her.

“You’re welcome…”

On the surface, Tong Luo calmly looked away. On the inside, she was filled with dark and gloomy thoughts.

The more honest and blunt Qi Wu was, the darker Tong Luo’s thoughts felt.

She did not use to be like this…

Just as Tong Luo’s thoughts were about to overwhelm her, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Qi Wu had split the bowl of noodles into two before pushing one of them over to her.

That snapped Tong Luo out of her spiraling thoughts as she dazedly stared at Qi Wu.

“A bowl for each of us.”

After saying that, Qi Wu happily devoured her bowl of noodles.

It was just a simple bowl of noodles, yet Qi Wu looked so satisfied by it.

Not only was Qi Wu’s joy clear to see, but the naturally relaxed look on her face brought heartfelt joy to Tong Luo, the person who cooked those noodles.

“You don’t want all of the noodles?”

Tong Luo could not resist asking Qi Wu, who had already finished her bowl of noodles, as she looked down at the bowl of noodles in front of her.

She had done her best to refrain from talking to Qi Wu, but Qi Wu was constantly catching her off-guard. She just felt an inherent desire to talk to Qi Wu.

Qi Wu solemnly shook her head.

“I had a big breakfast this morning, so I can eat less for lunch.”

She spoke so seriously that she sounded like a child who was strictly abiding by the rules their parents had set in place.

That finally made it impossible for Tong Luo to suppress her smile.

“Is that what your family said?”

Upon hearing the question, Qi Wu placed a hand on the table and tilted her head as she contemplated the relationship between her and Jin Si.

After a while, she shook her head. “No. It was my debtholder who said that.”

Yes, Jin Si was her debtholder.

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